EMILY Lau Wai-hing was still fuming yesterday at being accused of being noisier than the fireworks planned for the Disney theme park. The charge came when The Frontier convenor - who often speaks loudly when she gets angry - complained about the Government's promise to exempt Disney from any new environmental laws that might restrict its nightly closing ceremony. Commissioner for Tourism Mike Rowse, who is famed for his curt attitude to those who disagree with him, retorted that even those affected by the fireworks - which will be heard in nearby Discovery Bay - would probably find them quieter than Ms Lau's question. The radical legislator managed to stop herself exploding during the exchange, at Friday's Finance Committee, where she was one of the few who opposed approving more than $22 billion in funding for the project. 'That was really beyond the pale but I've learnt to keep my composure,' she explained. 'I'm not going to blow up and give him the pleasure of seeing some fireworks.' Instead Ms Lau reserved her fury for yesterday's Chinese-language papers. She complained some had used Mr Rowse to mock her and even suggested it might be part of a conspiracy between the administration and parts of the media to disparage her. The loudly spoken legislator was also angry with her fellow councillors, some of whom seemed to share Mr Rowse's view that she should keep quiet. Apparently they made the mistake of showing their impatience when Ms Lau started asking critical questions about the Disney deal during Friday's meeting. Another member of the democratic camp who may have been talking too much is Martin Lee Chu-ming. The Democratic Party chairman cancelled an eve-of-polling appearance in North Point yesterday. He had been scheduled to meet the voters in support of his party's District Council candidates in this key battleground with the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment of Hong Kong. Democrat candidate Tsang Kin-shing said his leader had to pull out because he had a sore throat. There was no word on whether this was because Mr Lee had been trying to emulate Mr Tsang, who is known as 'The Bull', and bellows even more loudly than Ms Lau. But since the party has just pleased the Government by voting in favour of the Disney funding, presumably Mr Rowse won't be accusing its leaders of being too noisy. Nor are the Democrats the only party having trouble getting leaders out to help rank-and-file candidates in today's polls. Liberal Party central committee member Tommy Cheung Yu-yan was yesterday quoted by Ming Pao as lamenting how the party's 30-odd candidates were having to struggle along without any support from their 'big brothers and sisters'. These are the three party heavyweights who are all busy fighting for their own seats: chairman James Tien Pei-chun and legislators Selina Chow Liang Shuk-yee and Howard Young. That has left them too busy to follow the usual practice of helping lesser-known candidates. It also leaves the Liberals at risk of a double blow if these big stars also lose their high-profile contests.
